


And In The End, The Love You Take, Is Equal To The Love You Make

by HannahPelham



Series: Midsomer Loving [4]
Category: Midsomer Murders - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: The end.





	And In The End, The Love You Take, Is Equal To The Love You Make

Anya smiled widely as she watched her husband thank everyone for coming to their wedding. Her husband. She and Charlie had tied the knot early that afternoon, and she sat calmly as she watched him make a quick speech before his best man, John, took over. She stared at the new ring on her finger, and thought back to the day Charlie had proposed. 

 

_ It was a bright summer’s day in Causton. Anya sat in the Barnabys’ back garden with Betty on her lap, reading her a story. Charlie and John stood in the doorway and watched the scene play out.  _

 

_ “I want to marry her” Charlie said quietly out of nowhere. John looked over at his DS and smiled. He knew the day would come.  _

 

_ “So ask her” He replied. Charlie silently put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a ring.  _

 

_ “Right now?” Charlie asked nervously.  _

 

_ “Right now” Sarah said as she walked past, carrying a bowl of salad out to the table on the lawn. Charlie nodded and walked over, putting the ring back in his pocket for a moment as Sarah took Betty from Anya. She made her way inside and told John to be quiet.  _

 

_ Charlie put his arm around Anya’s shoulder, and smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes gently. He carefully took the vintage emerald ring from his pocket again.  _

 

_ “Anya?” He asked, prompting her to open her eyes again. When she did, the ring was in front of her. She sat bolt upright.  _

 

_ “Anya, I am so in love with you. I’ve known since the start that I’d never love somebody else quite like I love you, and I’d never love somebody else as much as I love you. I adore you. You are my inspiration, my motivation, the reason I get up in the morning and I am so proud to be yours. I never want to spend another day without you. Will you marry me?” Charlie asked, surprising himself with his eloquence. He looked at Anya, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw she was smiling. She looked at him.  _

 

_ “Yes, I will” She said quietly. It took them both a second to register what had happened, but before they knew it, Charlie was slipping the ring onto Anya’s finger and his lips were on hers. They were pulled from their moment by a shout from the house.  _

 

_ “So?” John called.  _

 

_ “She said yes!” Charlie replied. The next sound that was heard was the popping of a champagne cork. Anya laughed as Charlie was embraced by his boss as Sarah poured them each a glass of champagne.  _

 

_ “To Anya and Charlie!” John toasted.  _

 

_ “To love!” Charlie retorted, smiling wider than he ever had at Anya. His fiancee. He couldn’t quite believe it. He was amazed she had said yes. Anya smiled back at him, amazed Charlie had asked her. She’d thought they’d be one of those couples who were together forever but never got married. Never in a million years did she think Charlie would ask her, and with such a beautiful ring.  _

 

_ Anya and Charlie couldn’t keep their eyes and hands off each other all through lunch. Charlie had his arm around Anya’s shoulder and Anya had her hand on Charlie’s thigh. Occasionally, Anya would be distracted from the conversation by the emerald now sitting on her ring finger. Yes, she and Charlie lived together but they’d never discussed marriage. Now, well, now they had something else to worry about.  _

 

Anya was pulled from her daze as Charlie sat down, handing the microphone over to John. They braced themselves for the speech that was to follow. 

 

“Hello everybody. If you don’t know me, I’m Detective Chief Inspector John Barnaby, and I’m Charlie’s boss. I like to think I’m his friend too but I know he prefers my wife over me. When Charlie joined Midsomer Police from London I thought he was another one of those eager young guys who’d proven themselves in the Met, and wouldn’t make the transfer to country policing an easy process. DS Nelson proved me wrong. Within a couple of cases, he fit right in, and gained the respect of the county. That is a difficult thing to do in a place such as Midsomer. Then, after 18 months or so in Midsomer, living with our former pathologist Dr Kate Wilding, he met Anya. If anybody doesn’t know, Charlie and Anya met when Anya bought Charlie and I bottles of water after we’d chased and caught a suspect. Charlie was smitten from the first second, and when my wife Sarah and I met Anya the next day, we saw that she was too. Sarah and Anya became fast friends, but what they both negated to tell us was that they’d started dating. We only found out after six months when we went to see a sick Anya, and Charlie shouted ‘who is it, love’ from inside the house. Charlie proposed to Anya in our back garden. He stood next to me and looked at Anya with nothing except love in his eyes, and told me he wanted to marry her. I told him to ask her, and he did, pulling the ring from his pocket and reeling off something that was, I imagine, terribly romantic. Sarah and I are incredibly proud to have been there every step of the way for you two. Thank you for asking me to be your best man, Charlie. Anya, thank you for asking Sarah to walk you down the aisle. We are incredibly proud to be your friends and we, as everyone does, wish you all the very best for your married life” John said, getting gradually more emotional. 

 

Charlie stood and embraced his boss, as Anya embraced Sarah. Charlie knew Anya saw Sarah as a mother figure, and he certainly looked up to John like a boy would his father. Anya had cried with happiness when Charlie suggested that they sit at the top table with them. They sat back down and Charlie found himself leaning over to kiss his wife. 

 

His wife. 

 

Mrs Nelson. 

 


End file.
